Construction of submarine boats.



PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906.

T. H. WHELESS. CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE BOATS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 3, 19 03.

SHBBTS-SHBET L mwwmm T witnesses No. 811,886; PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906.

T. H- WHELESS.

CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE BOATS.

APPLICATIQN FILED NOV. 3, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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@uvaufoz V PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906.

T. H. WHELESS.

CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1903.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3 UNITED STATES PATENT ,OFFIGE.

To all whom it may concern.-

- 'Be'it known that I, THOMAS HENRY WHE- Lass, a citizen of the United States, residing at h ew York city, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction ofSubmarine Boats, (Case F and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventhe other or the twomay constitute separate spring-leaks.

tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make, and usethe same.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of vessels, and more especially .to the construction of submarine ves- In the ordinary construction of these vided with hatches or openings of more or less limited area, through which the machinery and the interior fittings of the vessel are conveyed, and this canonly. be done at considerable inconvenience and expense. Moreover, in the cramped space inclosed in the hulls of such vessels it is very difficult for the workmen to work satisfactorily. Moreover, such vessels when,constru'cted according to the present methods are liable to According to my present invention I construct a hull of two or more superposable ortions, preferably running the entire lengt of the hu 1, and then when these portions are securely fastened together the constitute a rigid,strong, and water-tight ull. The twoportions referred to may be placed one above sides ofthe boat. By having two such mem bers the machinery and inner fittings may be mounted each member separately, and then the two members of the'shellmay be put together, thus completing the'hull and enabling the workmen to obtam access to the I interior thereof without being unnecessarily cramped. By combining a shell made of two or more ortions, as already described, with interior amework the hull may be made more rigid. Moreover, in the manufacture of the smaller boats the two halves may be provided with outwardly-projecting flanges that may be secured together from the outside, thus rendering it unnecessary to do any riveting from within.

My invention 'will .be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which other figures.

be rovided, if desired;

' skeg Patented Feb. 6, 1906.

the same parts are indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a lanview, of the hull of a small submarine oat in which the shell of the hullis composed of two members. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of a hull of a larger boat, provided with bow and stern castin s, and a setics of plates riveted together an connecting horizontal section through the bow of the boat shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the stern of the boat shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 7 shows a. cross-section along the line 7 7 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 shows a cross-section along the line 8 S of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 shows amodification in which the 'two members of the shell of the hull are connected together at top and bottom instead of along the beam, as shown in the Figs. 10 and 11 show modifications in which the flanges are turned inward, leaving the exterior of the boat flush.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, A re resents the lower member of the shell w ich constitutes the outer portion of the hull, which ispreferablymade of a continuous sheet-of compressed steel and is provided with a flange a. Into this lower member the machinery andinterior fittings are mounted, and then the upper member. B, which is gen erally similar to the lower member, is put in place. This upper member B is provided I witha flan e' b, similar to the flange a of the lower mem er, and these two members may be riveted together. or may be electrically welded together or secured in any other convenient way.- Of course the usual manholes or hatches, conning-towers, or the likemay einterior of the boat shown in .Figs. 1 and 2 ma be braced in a similar way to that shown in igs. 5 to 9 and hereinafter to be described or in any other convenient way, if desired. In order to give rigidity to the bearings of the propeller E, the flanges a and b may be extended rearward, as indicated at 1;, b and b of Fig. 2. Moreover, a. suitable dC and rudder D maybe provided, if de sire In ra ctice it might be drama to secure -such arge shells of metal, as indicated at A and B in Figs. 1 and 2, all in one iec'e, and for this reason the two membersof t ese shells may be built up'of a numberofsheets of v1 metal, as indicated at A and B in Figs. 3 to 8. In these figures not only are the shells made up of a number of plates, but bow and stem castings F and H are provided. These castings are rabbeted, as at) and it, (see Figs. and .6,) to receive the ends of the outer shell A and B and the sterniece H bored, as at h, to receive the props ler-sha'ft. and as at h to' receive the rudder-head. 1 In the lar er boats covered with a series of plates it Ibe necessary to provide suitable lraming, and Ihave shown such a framing in Figs. 5 to 9.

Referring first to Figs. 5 to 8, there-are two I 5 channel irons K, extending longitudinally fore and aft along each beam and whose ends engage in sockets f and h in the bow and stern castings F and H, respectively. I also provide a similar channel iron extending along the bottom of the boat, as indicated at N, which is securcdat its ends in recesses f and h of the bow and stern castings, respec-' tively. I also provide arr-upper T-beam-ex tending along the top of the boat, as shown at M, which projects into recesses f and h in the bow and stern castings, as indicated in Figs. 5and 6. Connecting these various longitudinal girders K, K, M, and N are the ribs 0, which are made elliptical in form, as indicated in Figs. 7, 8,and 9. The upperportion' of the boat has its flanges b secured to the flanges a of the lower portion of the boat, I and these are reinforced by angle-irons I, as

shown in Fig. 7 and 8. L I

"The boats are preferably made elliptical in cross-section with the depth of the hull greater than the beam, asindicatedin Figs. 7 and 8, the general cross-section representing that of one of the fast-swimming fishes, this shapebing found to encounter a comparatively small resistance in passing through the'- water; Moreover, by :having the hull elliptical in cross-sectionit is verystrong to resist such crushing strains as would be eX- perienced in diving to unusual depths.

By having the fillet between the flan 'es and the body oftheplate reinforced by ang eirons and also by having the inner longitudinal girders registering-with the flanges and the an le-irons, as shown in Figs, 7 and 8, not only is the resistance of the shell of the boat to crushing strains largely increased, but also great longitudinal rigidity is given to "the structure,-whereby a very-stiff and strong hull is secured.' Furthermore, by sup lementing the angle-irons and flanges wit ribs 0, as shown in Figs. 7 to 11, a compound structure is secured which is capable of resisting extremely heavy crushing strains. This renders possible not only the use of thin material, but also serves as. rotection in case the boat by accident or ot erwise descends to any great' 'depth. v t

While in Figs. 1 to 8' I have shown the two 65 members of the \hull as superposed, these members may be secured together at the top and bottom, as indicated in Fig. 9, in which only the top'part of across-section of the boat is shown, the bottom part being generally similar. In this section the shells A and B are provided with flanges a and b, which are bolted to the T iron I and are strengthened by the elliptical ribs'O and the channel-irons K.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 10 and 11 the flanges are turned inward, leaving'the 7 5 outer surface of the boat flush. Thus in Fig. 10 the parts B A are provided with Iinwardly-turne'd flanges b a which are secured together by the angle-irons I, and the shell is stiflened' by the fore-andaft channel-irons K. In the form of device shown in Fig. 11 the parts B and Aflhave flanges 7) a turned inward and secured between the angle-irons I and thechannel-irons K. It will be noted that in Fig. 10 the hull is shown composed of .851 two side members, while in Fig. 11 the hull is ihown compdsed- (if an upper and lower mem- It will be obvious that the bracing of the interior of the hull may be altered in various ways, dependent upon the size of the boat and other conditions, and that various other modifications might be made in the hereindescribed construction which could be used without departing from the spirit of my in- 5- vention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is I p 1. A hull for submarine boats, consisting of two separatestructures provided with flanges along the edges thereof, the said-flanges being secured together to form a hull, with angleirons secured in the fillets of said flanges, substantially as described. v 2. In a hull for submarine boats, the combination with a lower flanged member, of an upper flanged member adapted to be secured to the lower, means for. securing said flanges together, and longitudinal stiiieners: for strengthening the fillets of said flanges, substantially as described. L u

3. In a hull-for submarine boats, the combination with one member rovided with a flange along the periphery t ereof, of a-sec- 0nd member provided with a similar flange registering with the first, means for securing said flanges'together, whereby a complete hull is formed, and angle-irons secured in the fillets of saidflanges, substantially as (is-.120 scribed. v

4. A hull for submarine boats comprising bow andst'ern castings, flangedupper and lower members secured to said bow and stern castings and to each other, angle-irons se- 12' 5 curedin the fillets of said. flanges, and framing. mounted in said-hullfor stiflening the same, substantially as described. I

I 5. 'A hull for submarine boat's comprising bow'and stern castings, flanged upper and 1 0 lower members secured to said how and stern castings and to each other, engle irons secured in the fillets of said flanges, fore-end-eft beams connecting said, how and stern castings, and transverse ribs extending between said fore-end-eft beams, substantially as described.

6. A. bull for submarine boats comprising bow and stern castings, flanged upper and lower members secured to said bow and stern castings and. to each other, fore-end-eft beams projecting into sockets in the said bow ensi are castings and connecting the same, and t. reverse ribs extending between the said iore-nnd -eft beams, substantially as described.

'F A hull for submarine boats tw separate structureseech semi-elli iticei in cros i tion provided with flanges e on'g the edges thereof, the said flanges being secured together to form a hull, with c'ngledro s secured in the fillets of said :ilenges, substantieily as described.

8. A hull for submarine boats comprising bow and stern. costings, flanged. upper and lower members secured to said bow and stern castings and to each other, each member being semi-elliptical in cross-section, engle-irons secured inlthe fillets of said flanges, and fram ing mounted in said hull for stiffening the same, substantially as described.

9. A hull for submsirine boats comprising consisting of bow and stem castings, flanged upper and lower members secured to said bow end stern castings and to each other, engie-irons se-. cured in the fillets of said flanges, each member being semi-elliptical in cross-section, fore end-aft beams connecting said bow and stern cestings, and transverse ribs extendingbetween said foreend eft beams, substantially sis described.

10. A bull for submarine boats comprising bow and stern castings, fian ed upper and lower members secured to said bow and stern castings and to each other, each member being semi-eiiipticel in cross-section, fore-end-eit beams projecting into sockets in the said. bow end'stern castings and connecting the same, and transverse ribs extending between the said foresnd--e,ft beinns, substantially as described,

bn'uiriue boats comprising i r, hinged upper and lower ITHQ il i i in ,d ssid bow and stern castings em to each otl'ier, and fore-end-eit side beams connecting said bow and stern castings, and ming lep-joint with said flanges, substao'i'iiell as described.

:Lhuii .l'or subimirine boats-comprising bow and stem castings, flanged upper end lower incnf ers secured. to said bow and stern cestingscnd to es :b. other, fore-end-eft side beams projecting into sockets in the said how and stem costing" me connecting the some, and forming at lepg; with said flanges, and. transverse ribs extmniiing between the said fore-encbeit booms, substantially as scribed.

13. Inchull for submarine boots, the coinbinetion with a lower flanged member, of en upper flanged member adapted to be secured in presence oi'- two witnesses.

THOMAS HENRY wnnnnss.

Witnesses: I R. M. PARKER,

M. MOConnon. 

